ide
the _Britannia_. The ceremony of christening her was performed at sunrise
the next morning, when she was named _The Francis_, in compliment to the
lieutenant-governor's son, whose birthday this was; and, Mr. Raven
coinciding with the general opinion that she would be much safer if
rigged as a schooner than as a sloop, for which she had been originally
intended, the carpenters were directed to fit her accordingly; and that
gentleman very obligingly supplied a spar, which he had procured for the
_Britannia_ at Dusky Bay, to make her a foremast.

The command of this little vessel, of whose utility great expectations
were formed, was given by the lieutenant-governor to Mr. William House,
late boatswain of the _Discovery_, who arrived here in the _Daedalus_ for
the purpose of proceeding to England as an invalid; but being strongly
recommended by Captain Vancouver as an excellent seaman, with whom he was
very unwilling to part, and signifying a wish to be employed in this
country, the command of this vessel was given to him, with the same
allowance that is made to a superintendant; on which list he was placed.
The two boys who were left behind from the _Kitty_ were also entered for
her, and she was ordered to be fitted forthwith for sea. As it was well
known that many people had their eyes upon this vessel as the means of
their escaping from the colony, it was intended, in addition to other
precautions, that none but the most trusty people should ever be employed
in her.

On the last day of the month a plan to take off one of the longboats was
revealed to the lieutenant-governor. The principal parties in it were
soldiers; and their scheme was, to proceed to Java, with a chart of which
they had by some means been furnished. If their plan had been put into
execution, the evil would have carried with it its own punishment; for,
had they survived the voyage, they would never have been countenanced by
the Dutch, who were always very jealous of strangers coming among them,
and had, no doubt, heard of the desertion of Bryant and his associates
from this settlement. Two of the soldiers were immediately put into
confinement; and in the night two others, one a corporal, went off into
the woods, taking with them their arms, about one hundred rounds of
powder and ball, which they collected from the different pouches in the
barrack, their provisions and necessaries.

The principal works in hand by the people at Sydney were, erecting